A Sky of Diamonds
by Jade S
Summary: More kawaii Jim/Aisha stuff ^__^ A lonely Jim retreats to a hill top to do some thinking and gets some unexpected company...Please r/r!


A/N: Hey people! I actually started writting this a couple months ago, but then I came across it and decided it was kinda kawaii, so here it is ^__^ Definatly not my best, but Jim/Aisha fans outta enjoy it. So, there ya have it, read, review and err...have fun! Yup^^;; And now, onto the fic...!  
  
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-:-A Sky of Diamonds-:-  
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It was so beautiful. So totally beautiful. The way the stars twinkled in that darkened sky above--like so many diamonds, glittering against an endless black velvet backdrop. Of course, it could always be better. If it was this beautiful alone than it had to be just magical with someone by your side. Perhaps that's why I was alone here now. God knows I'd rather not be. But seriously, what could be more romantic? Why else would Gene have stopped coming up here with me? Why else than to do the same with Melfina? He'd always promised that he'd never let girls come between us. I guess he lied...  
  
I leaned back at the thought, something of a mixture between a yawn and a sigh escaping my barely parted lips as I let my back hit the ground. It was easier to look at the stars like this anyway. My hands were behind my head immediately as I let my thoughts wander. It never used to be like this, not since I met Gene. Well, maybe at first, but it really hadn't taken long for me to win the outlaws' friendship. Less time than most in fact. And once I did, neither of us had to feel lonely, that's just the way things were. Back then.  
  
Even before that I hadn't been alone, my parents never let me be lonely. Jeez I miss them. Dad especially. I was so young when my mother died, I barely knew her. But my dad, he'd been like my best friend from the day I was born. He used to get me up sometimes in the middle of the night just to spend more time with me. He'd take me up to these hills--well not *these* hills--with me on his shoulder and a telescope in his hand and we'd just sit there for hours gazing up at the stars. I always hated it when the sun would finally rise and we'd be forced to leave. That might even be what I remember about it most.  
  
When he died I didn't know what to do. I was so young, and I was lost without him. But then, it was like Gene just appeared, and as I said before, we became quick friends. And then, one day we went up to this hill. He told me about how he used to bring girls up here, about how they'd all think it was "terribly romantic". And I told him about my dad. It was amazing how open one could be in a place like this. Amazing just what those stars could do to you. So hypnotic. Amazing how easily they could take it all back and take away your best friend and leave you all alone. Amazing how much it could hurt.  
  
It did too, it really did. I never thought that I could miss Gene this much when he was still so close. I dunno, maybe I was just being foolish again, I'm like that sometimes. 'Genius James' or not, it was simply incredible just how stupid I could be. Why should I be lonely when I have such good friends? Why did I still think like such a kid when I had the maturity of an adult--more so in Genes' case. It was amazing how well I could run a business at my age and still not be able to run my own life. I'd always relied way to much on others to help keep me happy, why couldn't I rely on myself? Why couldn't I just get on with my life? Why...?  
  
I wasn't sure, how could I be? All I really did know was that my thoughts were beginning to blur, and my sudden lack of concentration was making those question all the more confusing. All I really knew, was that I was tired. Terribly, terribly tired. Tired of thinking, tired of being alone. Just tired. And so it was, with a quite yawn, that my heavy eyes fell shut and the stars disappeared from my view. It wasn't long after before I found myself in darkness and my head was filled with dreams.  
  
It wasn't long after before I heard her voice...  
  
"Jim?" My eyes snapped open almost instantly, how long had I just slept?  
  
"Err...Huh...?" I mumbled, rolling over on my stomach, the cool grass gently tickling my face from it's place around me.   
  
"What the heck are you doing up here so late? Were you sleeping just now?" The voice was Aisha's I realized quickly as I matched it with her ever-curious face. And I actually smiled at the pensive look she held, I hadn't expected to see her here.  
  
"Aisha...Hi...What brings you here?"  
  
"I asked you first." Her hands fell on her hips as she spoke, and I barely caught that tiny smile that had formed on her lips.   
  
"I was just looking at the stars." I replied simply, climbing into a sitting position and staring up at her. She looked confused.  
  
"You've been up here all this time just looking at the stars?"  
  
"Yeah..." Her smile grew wide as she stifled a laugh, I bit my lip in confusion.  
  
"Alone?" I nodded. "Why?" By now she really was laughing, she thought I was being stupid. Childish. That I was being a silly little kid, and she was laughing. AT ME! And that was one of those few tactless moments that I really couldn't stand her.  
  
"Why not?" There was an angry tone in my voice that I just couldn't hide. Didn't try to hide. She really thought it was stupid. "What the hell do you find so funny, Aisha?"  
  
"I dunno, it just seems kinda silly." She replied, but stopped laughing. "You can be such a kid sometimes."  
  
"Don't call me a kid!" My blood was really boiling now, why was I getting so mad? Since when did Aisha's opinion matter so much?  
  
"Jeez, Jimmy, calm down." She said lightly ruffling my hair, to which I quickly pulled away and crossed my arms. She sighed as her smile disappeared. "Awe, come on, I wasn't trying to make ya mad. You humans are just so strange sometimes."  
  
"Oh, and I suppose that a 'great C'tarl C'tarl' like yourself wouldn't be caught dead looking at the sky?"   
  
"Not for hours at a time." She answered, rolling her eye's at my obvious sarcasm and taking a seat at my side. "Not all alone anyway."  
  
I sighed at her words, loosening up a bit as I did. It wasn't like I wanted to be alone...   
  
"Hey, are you all right?" She was worried?   
  
"Fine." I answered a bit quickly--and bitterly. "I was just thinking I guess."  
  
"Is *that* why you came up here?" She asked giving me a sideways stare. "To think?"  
  
I shrugged. "Sorta." I said, though there was a bit more to it. "It's just something I used to do."  
  
"When?" Why was she asking so many questions all of a sudden?  
  
"When I was a kid." And why was I answering them?  
  
She laughed again. "Your still a k-" She stopped short of the word and grinned sheepishly. "Umm...Well your not all grown up just yet, you know?" She stated, choosing her words more carefully.  
  
"I mean when I was little, with my dad and then with Gene." I explained looking back at her finally. "It was just something that we used to do. I really enjoyed it growing up." She was silent as I spoke, and I felt kind of uneasy, but the look on her face was just begging for more. I honestly didn't know what kept me talking though, not more than five minutes ago I couldn't stand her, but now...Now she was okay. And she seemed genuinely interested in what I was saying. That didn't happen often. Maybe I was overwhelmed by it, I dunno know, but I just kept on talking.  
  
"After my dad died and I met up with Gene, I think I was about six, we started doing the same thing. When one of us was upset about something, or when we were celebrating a successful job, or sometimes for no reason at all, we'd just go outside and stare up at the sky--even during the day, looking up at the clouds--and talk." I smiled at my vocal musings, those were the good old days. Just me and Gene, my partner, my best friend. Those were the days.   
  
"Where is he now?"   
  
"Hmm?" I'd almost forgotten she was there.  
  
"Gene." Aisha continued, a thoughtful look in her eye's. "Where's he at now?"  
  
"Oh." My shoulders slumped and my smile faded. I'm sure Aisha hadn't meant it, but she just dragged me kicking and screaming, out of the past and back into the present. Her own face fell as my gaze dropped toward the ground, and though I couldn't see it, I was sure that there was a perplexed frown upon her pretty face.   
  
I blinked. Pretty face? Now, where had THAT come from?  
  
"Jim?" She urged and I shrugged my heavy shoulders in response.  
  
"I honestly have no idea." Was my sad reply.   
  
After a few long minutes of silence I looked up and smiled sadly and the cat-girl at my side slide just little closer. "You all right?" She asked, wide eye's locked on mine in evident concern.  
  
"Yeah." I gave her a slight nod. "It's just, well, for as long as I've know Gene there's always been a girl. Sometimes it was serious, most times it wasn't, but no matter what he always made time for me. To hang out or to talk or to...whatever. It didn't matter, he was just...there. And he promised he always would be. But now, with Mel around, he just...isn't."  
  
"Oh, I see how it is." Aisha sighed and shook her head slowly, and I looked up at her, curious to hear just what conclusion she had drawn. She smiled. "Your jealous."  
  
My head snapped the rest of the way before I even had a chance to think. "I am not jealous!" I was quick to defend. She was wrong, I wasn't like that. I was too mature for that! I was NOT jealous! But her smile didn't fade, and I felt strangely compelled to fight her accusations to no end. "I'm NOT! Aisha, come on, it's not jealousy. It isn't! I'm just a little...bitter...is all. About Gene spending so much time with Melfina, and..."  
  
I trailed off as Aisha began to giggle. "Awe, Jimmy." She sighed again. "What do you think jealousy is?"  
  
I frowned, she was right. I was jealous, wasn't I? Of Gene and Melfina. Wow. My forehead wrinkled in thought and I bit down on my lower lip. I was jealous of Mel. MEL! Somehow that just seemed so...wrong. To say the least. Just very, very wrong. "I am, aren't I?" I asked glumly, as if I didn't know and Aisha nodded with an almost sad sort of amusement in her cerulean eye's. "So I'm being pretty stupid then, huh?"  
  
"Why do you say that?" She asked.  
  
"Because I'm jealous...Of Mel!" I voiced just what I'd been thinking a moment ago. "I mean, come on! Melfina's my friend, I should be happy for her, not jealous. I'm just being stupid! I-"  
  
"Your not stupid, Jim." Aisha cut me off. "A bit silly maybe, but then you've always been a...funny sort of kid."  
  
"And what is *that* supposed to mean?" I exclaimed suddenly, to Aisha's surprise.   
  
"Hey, Jimmy, calm down." She said in response to my sudden change of mood. "I didn't *mean* anything by it. It's just that normal kids-err...most kid-guys...your age, don't really act like you do." My anger subsided as she spoke, but I must have still looked a bit confused because she continued explaining. "Usually they're outside running around, or playing video games, or...oh, I dunno, but they're not working, let alone running a business. And anyway, all I meant was that there's nothing stupid about your being a little jealous." Ah, so there *was* a point to all of that. "Everyone gets that way once and awhile, and besides, Gene *is* being kinda inconsiderate of you."  
  
I sighed and shook my head sadly. "No, he's just being Gene." I said in a thoughtful tone. "He and Mel really like each other, don't they?"  
  
"No, Jim, they're just casual acquaintances." Aisha rolled her eye's. "Of COURSE they really like each other!"  
  
I think we we're both a bit surprised to hear me laughing softly at Aisha's obvious sarcasm. "Yeah, they do, don't they?"  
  
"Well, DUH! That's what I just said, isn't it?"  
  
I nodded and smiled at my own stupid questions. "You know, maybe that's what I'm *really* jealous of."  
  
"Huh?" Now she looked a bit confused.  
  
"What I really want." I continued. "What they have. I mean I'm every bit as mature as Gene--" And that was putting it mildly. "--but you wouldn't know it by looking at me." I shrugged at my own explanation. "So maybe that's what I want, maybe I just want to grow up. Maybe then I could have someone too."   
  
For a moment I was shocked and almost bewildered by the flood of words that had just left my mouth, every bit the revolution to me as they were to the girl at my side. Was that really how I felt? Was that really why I was so jealous? So lonely? And was I really being this open? To AISHA??! To anyone...? It just didn't seem possible, not one word of it! But that was really how I felt, wasn't it? It really *was* amazing how open one could be up here.  
  
"Awe, Jimmy." Aisha said again, the soft smile that engulfed her face as she leaned towards me confusing me all the more. "Don't you know you have someone now?"  
  
My eye's widened in surprise as she placed a light kiss on my cheek before getting to her feet and walking back down the hill. "And as far as growing up is concerned," She began, turning back to me a moment. "You'll get there soon enough."  
  
I watched, wide eyed as ever, as she walked slowly away. My mouth twitched softly before forming a lopsided grin that even my partner couldn't hope to rival. I must have looked like such a freak with dreamy look on my face, but I didn't care, not in the least. All that mattered now was the wonder that had just taken place. It wasn't until she was almost out of sight that I formed a response to her statement.   
  
"Can't wait." I mumbled dizzily.  
  
Aisha's ears twitched suddenly and, turning her head, she spared me one last smile before disappearing down the hill--like an angel of mercy back into the cloudy heavens above. The starry heavens. I leaned back on my elbows and gazed up at the stars once more, twinkling like diamonds against the midnight sky.   
  
Suddenly I didn't feel so lonely anymore.  
  
The end  
  
A/N: OK, so, uhh...whadda ya think? Kinda kawaii? *Shrugs* I dunno, I had fun with it^^ And we need more Jim/Aisha fics! So, umm...yeah, more... Alrighty, don't really have anything else to say here, so that's it for now. Later ^__^ 


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